Locking devices

ABSTRACT

A locking device for holding a projecting peg locked in a hole in another member has an elongate latch member held captive on the peg member. The latch member is movable but is constrained to move longitudinally and obliquely of the peg, so that it can be brought to a position in which it projects obliquely through the hole and on both sides of the other member. Preferably, the latch member is a wire extending through a bore in the peg.

United States Patent 1 Lindsey 1 51 Apr. 1, 1975 1 LOCKING DEVICES [76]Inventor: Edward George Lindsey, Ubley Park House, Chen Stoke, Bristol.England [22] Filed: Mar. 30, 1973 21 Appl. No.: 346,434

[52] US. Cl 403/49, 52/638. 52/645. 52/655 52/712, 85/5 CP. 85/83,211/177.

[51] Int. Cl. F16d 3/08 [58] Field of Searchm" 24/201 LP. 201 SL;403/49. 403/189, 263. 316. 355. 155 405, 368;

248/341; 211/177. 178 R; 85/5 CP, 8.3;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2.635717 4/1953 Albrccht ctal. 403/49 2.847.259 8/1958 Bcatly 403/49 3263552 8/1966 Fischer 85/8.33.695.140 10/1972 Noble 155/83 Primary E.\'ati1iner-Jordon FranklinAssistant E.\'aminer-Conrad L. Berman Attorney, Agent, or FirmStevens,Davis, Miller & Mosher [57] ABSTRACT A locking device for holding aprojecting peg locked in a hole in another member has an elongate latchmember held captive on the peg member. The latch member is movable butis constrained to move longi tudinally and obliquely of the peg, so thatit can be brought to a position in which it projects obliquely throughthe hole and on both sides of the other member. Preferably the latchmember is a wire extending through a bore in the peg.

8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures LOCKING DEVICES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to locking devices.

In many applications, one member is locked to another by passing a pegon the one through an aperture in the other and then providing a stop atthe outer end of the peg. The stop may take many forms. including thatof a pin through a transverse hold in the peg.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a locking deviceadapted to secure a member thereon. comprising a peg member and anelongate latch member slidably and captively mounted on the peg memberto provide constrained movement of the latch member longitudinally andobliquely of the peg member between a securing position with the latchmember projecting on both sides of the peg member and a retractedposition with the latch member projecting on one side of the peg memberwhereby another member having a matching aperture may pass over said pegmember and said other member is securable on the peg member by saidconstrained movement of the latch member from said retracted positioninto said securing position with the latch member projecting on bothsides of said other member.

A hole may be provided which extends longitudinally and obliquelythrough the peg member and said latch member may be in the form of a pinwhich is slidably mounted in the hole. Alternatively. there may beprovided on the peg member a fixed stud having flat opposing surfacesand said latch member is in the form of a bar having a longitudinal slotslidably mounted on the stud whereby the flat opposing surfaces engageinner surfaces of the slot and determine the constrained movement of thebar.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of apreferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of a further embodiment;

FIG. 3 shows an end view of the arrangement in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view ofa third form of the invention.

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of a fourth form of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an upright pole of ascaffold frame. A solid peg 11 is welded to the pole and projects fromit. The peg, and others on other uprights, act as anchorage points forcross-bracing in the form of a diagonal bar or bars, or ofscissor-braces, with a hole at each bar end.

The pegs forms part of a locking device which prevents the accidentaldisengagement of a brace once it has been positioned on the peg. Thelocking device further comprises a single length of spring wire. onepart 12 of which is straight (to constitute the aforesaid pin) andpasses through a hole 13 drilled longitudinally and obliquely at45through the peg. In the upright position of the pole, the hole 13extends in a vertical plane diagonally downwards and outwards from thepole, so that the wire normally drops to the position shown. The

other part 14 of the wire is bent in a loop, the plane of whichintersects the part 12 at an acute angle.

The loop is open and is so dimensioned that if the free end 15 of thewire is passed through the hole 13 from above, being pushed throughuntil the meets 14 of the wire meetss the top surface of the peg, theloop can thereafter be swung until its free end 16 springs past thelower surface of the peg. The position of the wire is then as shown inthe drawing. and it is captive.

A further form of the invention is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. In thisinstance. the loop 20 of the wire is deeper and the free end 21 extendshigher. while the rest of the device is the same as in FIG. 1. In thisform, the wire must be fitted before the peg is welded to the pole, bysliding the straight part of the wire into the hole and allowing theloop to pass directly over the end of the peg which is to be welded. Thedepth of the loop is determined by the clearance necessary for thisoperation.

Both these forms of the invention operate in the same way. An end of thecross-bracing bar (FIG. 2) is pushed over the free end of the peg 11. Asthe bar end 25 moves inwards along the peg. it pushes the straight partof the wire up the hole in the peg until its free end (15 in FIG. 1; 22in FIG. 2) lies within the hole. This allows the end 25 to pass to theposition shown in chain line. Thereafter. the wire drops under gravity.but will not rise again ifthe end 25 moves outwardly. The bracing barmust be released manually by pushing the wire upwards and pulling theend 25 off the peg. Preferably the lowermost end of the wire is roundedto allow it to slide against the face which is pushing it upwards.

These forms of the invention have the advantage that the end of thebracing bar itself lifts the wire catch as it is fitted over the peg. lnknown forms of bracing lock. the lock must first be set so that the barcan be fitted on the peg, and afterwards released to lock. Twooperations are thus saved.

A third form ofthe invention is shown in FIG. 4. A peg again has anoblique hole 31, within which slides a wire 32. This has a single bendin it, to form a retaining part 33, preferably at an acute angle to thestraight part as shown. The peg 30 also has a small recess 34 largeenough to receive the free end of the retaining part 33 of the wire. Thelatter normally rests in "its lower position 35, from which it is raisedas a bracing bar end is fitted on the peg and to which it drops back.The wire can also however, be held in its raised position 36 (dottedlines) simply by turning it slightly about its own axis until the end ofthe retaining part 33 fits into the recess 34. This can be of advantagein dismantling a framework, since the brace locks can be lifted first atboth ends of a brace before it is lifted off.

The wire 32 is retained in the hole 31 because clearly it cannot escapedownwards, and removal upwards is prevented by the pin meeting the pole10 to which the peg 30 is fixed. The wire must therefore either befitted in its finished shape before the peg is welded to the pole, or beinserted from below and the retaining part 33 bent over in situ.

Another form of locking device is shown in FIG. 5. Again a pole 10 has apeg 40 projecting from it. The peg 40 is cut away to the extent of halfits diameter at its outer end thereby forming an aperture, and has alatch member 41 attached to the flat surface 42 formed by the cut. Themember 41 has a longitudinal slot 43 and is held by a fixed stud 44. Thelatter has a shank 45 with flat sides and a head 46 (shown partly brokenaway).

The flat sides of the shank 45 engage the inner surfaces of the slot 43and thus constrain the latch member 41 to move only in an oblique line.When held up right. so that the latch member drops under gravity. ittakes up a position such that it extends at both ends beyond theperiphery of the peg 40. This requirement determines the length andposition of the slot 43 in the member 41.

In use. the device operates as in previous embodiments. As the peg 40 ispushed through an aperture in another member. the latch member 41 slidesupwards. lt drops down again once it is clear of the other memher, andlocks the latter in position.

It will be clear that the various forms of locking device described areas secure as those already known, but cheaper to manufacture and easierand quicker to use. Though described in the form of brace locks forscaffolding. they are applicable in many other fields, such as gatelocks or tailboard locks for vehicles. If the wire should be damaged. itis easily replaced.

it will be understood that the above description of the presentinvention is susceptible to various modifications changes andadaptations.

I claim:

1. A locking device adapted to secure a member thereon. comprising a pegmember and an elongate latch member. said peg member including anaperture providing longitudinally and obliquely extending sliding meansthrough said peg member. said latch member including upper stop means;said latch member being slidably mounted in said aperture and having aconstrained movement longitudinally and obliquely in said peg memberbetween a first securing and a second retracted position, said firstposition permitting said latch member to project on both sides of saidpeg member, and said second position permitting the latch member toproject on only one side of said peg member, whereby another memberhaving a receiving aperture is adapted to receive said peg member andsaid other member is adapted to be secured on said peg member by saidconstrained movement of the latch member from said second retractedposition into said first securing position, with said latch memberprojecting on both i 7 sides of said other member.

2. A locking device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a fixed stud ismounted in said aperture and .hasflat opposite surfaces, and said latchmember is a bar having stop means of said pin includes one end portionbent transversely to the axis of the aperture therebyblocking passage ofsaid end portion through the aperture.

5. 'A locking device according to claim 4, wherein the pin has a freeend defining the upper end of said one end portion and the surface ofthe peg member is provided with a recess adapted to receive said freeend when the pin is located in said retracted position.

6. In combination with a framework, the locking de vice according toClaim 4, wherein the peg member is securely mounted at one end on theframework with said aperture spaced therefrom by a distance insufficientto permit withdrawal of the pin.

7. A locking device according to claim 4, wherein said one end portionis a loop adapted to partly encompass the peg member to captively retainthe latch memher on the peg member.

8. A locking device according to claim 7, wherein the loop has a freeend adapted to spring past a surface of the peg member about the axis ofthe hole, whereby the loop is swingable between a position in which itdoes it not encompass the peg member and a position in which itencompasses at least partly the peg members

1. A locking device adapted to secure a member thereon, comprising a pegmember and an elongate latch member, said peg member including anaperture providing longitudinally and obliquely extending sliding meansthrough said peg member, said latch member including upper stop means;said latch member being slidably mounted in said aperture and having aconstrained movement longitudinally and obliquely in said peg memberbetween a first securing and a second retracted position, said firstposition permitting said latch member to project on both sides of saidpeg member, and said second position permitting the latch member toproject on only one side of said peg member, whereby another memberhaving a receiving aperture is adapted to receive said peg member andsaid other member is adapted to be secured on said peg member by saidconstrained movement of the latch member from said second retractedposition into said first securing position, with said latch memberprojecting on both sides of said other member.
 2. A locking device asclaimed in claim 1, wherein a fixed stud is mounted in said aperture andhas flat opposite surfaces, and said latch member is a bar having alongitudinal slot slidably mounted on the stud whereby the flat oppositesurfaces of said stud engage inner surfaces of the slot and determinethe constrained movement of the bar.
 3. A locking device according toclaim 1, wherein said aperture extends longitudinally and obliquelythrough the peg member and said latch member comprises a pin slidablymounted in said aperture.
 4. A locking device according to claim 3,wherein the stop means of said pin includes one end portion benttransversely to the axis of the aperture thereby blocking passage ofsaid end portion through the aperture.
 5. A locking device according toclaim 4, wherein the pin has a free end defining the upper end of saidone end portion and the surface of the peg member is provided with arecess adapted to receive said free end when the pin is located in saidretracted position.
 6. In combination with a framework, the lockingdevice according to Claim 4, wherein the peg member is securely mountedat one end on the framework with said aperture spaced therefrom by adistance insufficient to permit withdrawal of the pin.
 7. A lockingdevice according to claim 4, wherein said one end portion is a loopadapted to partly encompass the peg member to captively retain the latchmember on the peg member.
 8. A locking device according to claim 7,wherein the loop has a free end adapted to spring past a surface of thepeg member about the axis of the hole, whereby the loop is swingablebetween a position in which it does not encompass the peg member and aposition in which it encompasses at least partly the peg member.